Wednesday's Doctor's Appointment

This morning when I showered, I washed my hair. I don't wash it every day because it is long and takes forever to dry. In trying to meet my goals, I also put on all-day lipstick and mascara because I knew I would be going out today. I also taped up my thumb because the nail has finally fallen off from back in December when I smashed it in the car door. It looks so-o-o much worse now. It was better looking when it was pure black. Before I came downstairs I gave all my potted geraniums in the loft a really good soaking.

I cleaned off my dining room table (which is really my craft table), took it down and carried it into my craft room where I set it up again. I am hoping to use it this week to do some scrap booking. Back in the dining room, I pulled my small wooden table out from the wall and set it up where the table should be with four chairs around it. When I needed to seat more people for dinner at Christmas, I made the switch and never got around to changing it until today. If I want to make some cards, this surface is big enough. Yesterday I got started on my Easter cards and finished eight.

 I wrapped up the two white t-shirts I bought for my two grand kids in Bradford in one envelope and left for Kingston a little early for my appointment. I wanted to stop at the post office to pick up the mail and send off the package, go to my bank and spend the remaining $8 left on the gift card for Giant Tiger. It seemed to be burning a hole in my wallet. But when I was told it was going to cost over $14 to mail the package (I only spent $10 on both shirts), I brought them back home with me. The post master told me to mail them in separate envelopes (as oversized letters) and it would cost much less. So I will be re-wrapping them tomorrow. So glad he was on my side.

I was still early for my appointment in Kingston, so I visited the Giant Tiger downtown. I picked up a dinner ham for half the price and 3 cartons of cream for only 75 cents each. I also picked up 3 packets of garden seeds for 99 cents. After using up the $8 remaining on the card, I paid only $1.30 oop.

On the way home tonight, I stopped at Canadian Tire to spend another $25 gift card to put gas in my van. I am loving these gift cards.

I did some more shredding this afternoon and filled two grocery bags with shredded paper for my garden this spring. I have taken one garbage bag to the curb as well as the gray box for recycling. Tonight's dinner is warmed over leftovers from last night....meatloaf and cheesy veggie casserole.

Spending Some Birthday Money

I have already mentioned that I received several gift cards for my birthday. I was so spoiled rotten. One of them was for my favourite department store, Giant Tiger. Since I was in Napanee on Saturday with my friends for my birthday luncheon, I decided to check out the store there. Sugardale bacon was on sale for $3.33 a package so I picked up two. I like to cook up the whole package and then freeze it so I always have some already cooked and ready to add to a recipe. I also bought my favourite black socks and some Hanes panties. My total came to $21.92, but there was no oop and I still have $8.08 remaining. It was such a treat.

While coming up with my mile long to-do list for the month of March, I recalled one of the podcasts I listened to back a few weeks ago. It was about setting goals and accomplishing more. Besides writing down the goal, you are supposed to consider what you need in order to do the next step. With that in mind, I asked myself what I would need in order to work on the scrapbook. Since it has been so long since I have done any scrap booking, I wondered about my page layouts. I checked out many different sites and pinned some ideas on my Pinterest page. I have lots of different 12x12 inch patterned papers, but I am sorely lacking in blank 12 inch card stock. So yesterday I used the remainder of another gift card I received at Christmas to go to Michael's and I bought a Recollections neutral paper pad.

Also in the photo, I paid $2 for a rubber stamp that says "A baby fills our hearts with love", 2 white pre-shrunk cotton t-shirts and the padded envelope to send them  to my two grand kids in Bradford. Next week is their March break and they can tie dye these shirts. I paid $14.25 oop after using the balance of the gc.

While in the same mall, I went over to Home Depot and bought some pine lumber.....1x2, 1x3, and 1x4 in 8 foot lengths. I can pick an afternoon when I can prime them. The  total came to $18.09, which I could have paid with the remainder of a gift card I had for over $22, but I couldn't find it in my purse. Darn it! So I paid out of my household money. I have since found the gift card, so I can use it in future.

From there I drove to No Frills where I bought lean ground beef for $2.77 a pound and three 450 gm blocks of Armstrong cheese. The total came to $33.52 and I used a $25 gift card, so only $8.50 oop.

I divvied the lean ground beef into eight pound portions for the freezer when I got home.
On the way back, I stopped at Shoppers because I needed milk and I hoped the cottage cheese would be on sale. It was, but I only bought one for $2.49. I also used a coupon to pick up a FREE full size Colgate PRO-relief sensitive toothpaste.

I used the remainder of a gift card for some toiletries I needed and paid the $7.78 oop for my milk and cottage cheese.

Even though I used a lot of gift cards, I have used up a lot of my $300 household money. Paying oop at Michael's, Home Depot and Canada Post has reduced my balance to $115.75 (I bought a padded envelope and 50 postage stamps) I think I am still in pretty good shape. I have lots of meat and veggies still in my freezer. I have $40 in points that I can spend at No Frills or Shoppers. My niece gave me some eggs from her chickens when she visited. I made another batch of yoghurt this morning, which will see me through this week. I'm not worried. And I have lots of things to keep me busy and happy. Hope you are all staying warm. We had another big dump of snow today.

Daybook: Monday, March 4/19

Outside my window.....it is clear and sunny, but cold.

I am thinking.....of the great weekend I just had. There was the fantastic visit with my niece and her husband who drove out to my place from Merrickville to pick up the cradle my husband had made for our youngest child. The cradle has been used by several of our family members, including my niece who now wants it for her own baby. We had the most wonderful visit, and she wants to buy some of my homemade birthday cards. I also had my birthday luncheon at a beautiful restaurant in Napanee with my girl friends (from the same group of friends who celebrate a whole weekend away every year) We always have a great time together and this was no exception. I walked away with lots of cards, scratch tickets, birthday wishes and a paid for lunch. My scratch tickets yielded me $28 in total.

I am thankful for.....all the phone calls from family and friends yesterday. My dad was in hospital for 3 days last week for some tests, but he was home for the weekend and he is fine.

From the kitchen.....I shredded and sauteed a large head of cabbage yesterday while baking a loaf of keto bread in the oven. I also made a  batch of cream cheese sauce to make creamed spinach with dinner last night.

I am wearing.....blue jeans, my black and turquoise checked shirt, gray socks and red knit slippers. Yes, I am a fashion model.

I am creating.....lots of different projects. I have my scrap book and my embroidered pillow cases started, but not finished. Yesterday I used my Cricut to cut out some Easter die cuts, so they will be ready for when I start making my Easter cards. I have also continued making kids' cards because I am sending more out to my grand kids lately.

I am going.....nowhere else today. I was out to the post office, Michael's, Home Depot, No Frills grocery and Shopper's Drug Mart just today. My shopping trips Saturday and today will  have to take up tomorrow's post.

I am hoping.....I am able to accomplish many items from my mile long to-do list for March.

I am hearing.....the sound of traffic outside my living room window and my fridge is running.

Around the house.....my second load of laundry from the weekend is dried and waiting to be folded and put away. I put away the first load yesterday. I collected all the upstairs trash and brought it down to put outside in the garbage can. I still need to pick up the newspaper flyers stacked up in the living room and put out into the gray box for collection this week. My craft table is piled high with both scrap booking materials and card making supplies. I wish I could just pick one and go with it.

One of my favourite things.....is my new laptop. Yes, you heard right. My Dad and "Dee" bought me a laptop for my birthday. Am I spoiled or what? My desktop computer has been slowly dying. It is still a Windows 7 Vista XP (Does that sound correct?) Anyways, as soon as this arrived, right on cue, I was no longer able to read my email on the old system. It arrived just in the nick of time, although I can still read my mail on the tablet. I have never owned a laptop before, so it takes some getting used to. I like that it is portable, but I will probably set it up semi permanently at my computer desk out of habit. And because it will be close to my filing and binders and my journal, etc.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include a psychiatrist's appointment this Wednesday. Because of the shopping I did today,  I will probably not need to go out this week for groceries.

Goals for this week:
Mail out three "Thinking of You" cards
Mail package of new white t-shirts to my two grands in Bradford so they can tie-dye them next week while on their March Break
Work on my son's scrapbook
Work on the embroidered pillow cases some more....maybe finish one this week.
Make another batch of yoghurt
Put away the dried laundry hanging in the loft
Make at least 6 cards this week.

Here's the picture I am sharing this week.....

The view out my back door....just to show you that we still have winter. All those tracks in the snow are from bunny rabbits. I have two that come out every night around dusk to prune back any vegetation that shows above the snowline. I have been leaving out the cabbage cores from all the shredding I have done over the winter.

My Mile Long To-Do List for March

Looking over my goals for 2019, I realise that I must continue to write out my weekly goals to keep in line with my monthly goals. Because I have not been writing down "take an hour this week to enjoy some self care", I have been neglecting my moisturising regime again.  I have been trusting my journal writing as a habit, when it clearly has not become a habit yet. I have placed a huge burden on myself by listing my goals as "Finish a project", instead of  "work on a project". So here is what I hope to accomplish this month.


House:

• Use my Home Depot gift card to buy some cheap pine lumber to trim out walls, doors or windows.     Done
• Paint those pieces of trim with white primer     Done
• Buy more caulking or wood filler as needed. Use gyproc compound where needed. 
• If I can get into the shed by the end of the month, look for mitre box and saw.
• Purge 30 items. That is only one a day.     Didn't even begin

Garden:

• Buy potting soil     Done
• Repot my aloe plants     Done
• Try starting  plants from seed     No

Spending:

• Print out and follow my budget sheet for March     Done
• I have removed $360 cash from the bank for household expenses and gas.  Keep track of all expenditures in my daily journal.     Done
• Get my taxes done.      No

Savings:

• Put money into savings account and gift accounts     Done
• I won $28 in scratch tickets for my birthday, which I have put into my piggy bank of "found money".     Done
•  I was asked to make feminine birthday cards for my niece for which she is paying me.     Done 

Family and Friends:

• Continue to send out at least 3 "Thinking of You" cards a week to friends or family members 
• Send out birthday cards in a timely fashion     I didn't quite keep up. One birthday card was mailed out late. However, I did send out lots of kid's cards. 

Health:

• Keep the appointment with my psychiatrist this week     Done
• Get blood work done at the end of this month and then make appointment with my GP early in April     Haven't done this yet but will when I return.
• Spend one hour each week on self care and moisturise every night    No
• Lipstick every day and makeup before leaving the house    No   A dismal failure.

Crafts and Leisure:

• Make at least 25 cards this month   Yes, yes, yes.
• Make a baby card and birthday cards for my niece     Not yet.
• Work on the scrapbook....at least another 14 pages     No..a big fat zero
• Work on the embroidered pillow cases     Finished one and still working on second
• Work on Easter or Springtime cards for the middle of next month     Done
• Start a macrame project for an upcoming gift     No

End of Month Goals

My goals for February were as follows:

• Print out and follow my new February budget.  Done. This was a very tight month financially, so I had to be very careful. I ended up having to borrow money from savings, but have since paid it back. I also paid for a small gift card and paid for a birthday lunch. 
• Put away my seasonal dishes and exchange them for my everyday dishes by end of the month. Done
• Keep printing out the 10 minute decluttering tasks from Organizing Moms and try to incorporate as many as possible into my housekeeping schedule. This was a total fail. I have stopped printing them out to save on paper. If I want to resume sometime later, I will just bookmark the site and write in my journal. 
• Go through all my books and novels and purge as many as I can  NO
• Find more papers from my binders and filing box to shred          Ongoing
• Make another 25 cards this month     I don't think so. I made a lot of different cards, but I did not keep track. It is that accountability thing again. I need to become more disciplined.
• Put together one scrap book     NO
• Produce one homemade gift     NO, but working on it.
• Replace the flapper in my master bathroom toilet      Done. Yay for me.
• I discovered two slow plumbing leaks this past month. Try to fix the problem by tightening the fittings, before I need to call in a plumber. I did tighten the fittings and slowed down the leaks, but need to do more. I am afraid of breaking something.
• Buy some Spackle to repair some drywall areas in the house. Use a $50 gift card to buy required materials for this month's repairs.    DONE.  I bought it. I didn't say I was going to use it this month.
• Continue to send out at least 3 cards a week to keep in touch with family and friends. I think I have done pretty well so far but  I missed the week before my birthday. That may have been the week of many snowstorms, but I did mail out the valentines and birthday cards on time. 

So I did manage to complete some of my goals. The ones marked in green were done in the first week, while I was still very gung-ho on getting things done. My resolve slipped away as quickly as the rest of the month. I am just not in the mood for scrap booking or purging, and I know I will be so disappointed when spring arrives and I didn't do anything about it. I might as well not beat myself up about it. I want the book to be done well and not slapped together. I did manage to put together 14 pages so far. March could well be the month where I excel. Fingers crossed. 

End of Week Goals

Goals for the Week

• Print out Week 8 of the 10-minute decluttering tasks and do as many as possible. Didn't even print them out. I'm not doing any of them.
  

• mail out 3 "Thinking of You" cards this week     done

• work on my embroidery project for the satin pillow cases     did some

• work on the scrap booking project    NO

• dusting and vacuuming the downstairs floors and the staircase     hit and miss

• go through and purge the books from my computer room    NO

I was correct in thinking I hadn't done any of these. I was busy, but don't know what I did.  One of my overall yearly goals was to maintain better notes in my journal, and even that has fallen by the wayside. I think I am going to be disappointed when I check out my progress on my end of month goals. Stay tuned. 

Last Week of February

Where did the month go? Does anyone know what happened to it? In a couple of days I will need to report on my goals and accomplishments and I don't think I have accomplished anything.

I did not return home on Sunday. I stayed an extra day because of the weather. Sunday started with freezing rain, which turned into pouring rain and some flooding, and then we had gale force winds with blowing snow. I left Smiths Falls yesterday morning and got home about 11 AM. My son and DIL came out shortly afterwards to visit, do laundry, and stayed for dinner.  I will need a couple of days to get caught up with my emails, blog posts,  and messages.

This morning I watered my indoor plants, made a batch of yoghurt,  and cooked up a big pot of chicken and vegetable soup for lunches this week. I paid some bills on-line before heading out to shop. I stopped at the post office on my way out of town to buy a roll of 50 postage stamps ($50.85) , pick up my mail (there were two more birthday cards), and mail out two cards of my own. I picked up a bag of road salt from the Hardware store ($9.60) because I have used up the last of mine on my driveway. I stopped at my bank to take out my cash for household expenses and gas for the month of March. I picked up a few items at Shopper's and paid with a gift card I received for my birthday. I also picked up a very few craft supplies at the Dollar Tree before heading to No Frills for last week's sale items.

 Produce cost $35.63  (Frozen $25 and fresh broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms and cabbage cost $15.63)

 Dairy cost $14.30, but $6 of that was paid with a gift card.

 I paid $13.77 for a utility turkey that cost $1/lb.

Pantry cost $7.97 for a 925 gm tin of coffee, for  a grocery total of $71.70